AIRPLANE LANDS ON I-15

ESCONDIDO 
A pilot whose single-engine rental plane ran out of gas made an emergency landing on south Interstate 15 near El Norte Parkway in Escondido late Sunday night.

Pilot Ken Gheysar of Orange was heading to Palomar Airport from Mammoth Lakes with three family members when he landed the 1968 Piper aircraft on the freeway about 11:25 p.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said.

Gheysar, another man and two women got out of the plane without injury, Bettencourt said.

A short time later, a 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup driven by a 74-year-old man clipped the left wing of the plane as the truck traveled south, causing minor damage.

The plane sat on the right shoulder of the freeway until Monday morning as authorities discussed how to remove it. Traffic was backed up to Deer Springs Road as people slowed to look at the out-of-place aircraft and take pictures.

The plane was towed off the freeway and onto the El Norte off-ramp about 8:20 a.m. The ramp remained closed Monday night.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified about the unusual landing, Bettencourt said.

This was the second time over the weekend that a plane landed on a county highway.

On Saturday, a 79-year-old pilot landed a small homemade Europa aircraft on north state Route 67 near the Woodside Avenue exit in Santee.

A CHP officer who saw the plane flying low over the highway about 10 a.m. started a traffic break that allowed the pilot to land safely, the CHP said.

The pilot told officers the aircraft experienced power issues shortly after taking off from Gillespie Field and he was attempting to return to the airfield when the engine locked up, the CHP said.